Through Courageous Eyes
by Sivillias
Summary: The ThunderClan leader leaned forward towards the WindClan warrior. "Trees of the forest will block out the sun and stars with shade and bramble." The starry tom leaped through the air until he found his place in the night sky once more. The ThunderClan queen mewed, "Take care of my kit." before following the leader back to Silverpelt.(QER)
1. Chapter 1

Quailflight shook his head. The brave warrior stared at him in a stunned silence.

"I asked StarClan," He explained. "But they told me that you can never have kits."

"Never?"

"Never."

* * *

Pinknose was curled up in her nest made of dry grass and sheep's wool. Her fur was tangled and flecked with dirt. As dusk grew, her sorrowful whimpers died. Her heart was clenched. She could never have kits. She would never be a queen.

"Pinknose?" A bronze tabby tom crawled under the gorse boughs. "Are you okay, Pinknose?"

The creamy colored she-cat closed her eyes and turned her head. How could she look at her mate? They tried so hard to have kits but with no luck. And now the truth has come forth: she can't have any at all.

"Th-Thornslope," The she-cat said his name in a ragged whisper. "I can't have kits."

"Oh, Pinknose." Thornslope curled up beside her. 'It's okay."

"No, it's not!" She growled. "We both know how much you want kits!"

Thornslope bit back his tongue and let his mate talk.

"You should go find a new mate. One that can have kits for you." Pinknose sobbed.

He nuzzled her neck. "Pinknose, I'd never do that. We are still mates. And I still love you." He licked her ear gingerly. "I love you."

Pinknose rested her head on his tabby shoulder feeling exhausted. "I love you, too."

* * *

"Did you hear?" The elderly tom, Gentlevoice, whispered in a low voice to the other elders. "ThunderClan is preparing for five new litters of kits."

"Five?" A patchy dark brown she-cat lifted her head. "That's quite a lot at once."

Pinknose stifled a growl. How could five she-cats prepare for kits when she can't even have one? She massaged Fallentree's back and checked his flank for fleas.

"At the last Gathering," Gentlevoice lowered his voice even more and the other elders strained to hear. "I heard that, well actually, a cat told me that she was going to have one of those litters."

"Who is it?" The brown she-cat elder, Hookclaw, mewed.

Pinknose flicked her ears irritably. She bit a flea and nearly grazed Fallentree's skin with her fangs.

"Brokenleg." Gentlevoice said at last.

"No way, how could Brokenleg have kits?" Hookclaw hissed. "She's the same age as us!"

"As me." Gentlevoice corrected. "You may be my littermmate but I'm moons younger!"

Pinknose waved her tail in good-bye to the elders. Her whiskers were twitching uncontrollably and her lips were trembling. She sprinted out of the hollow and went to find her nest.

"What's got her whiskers in a bunch?" Hookclaw croaked.

* * *

Pinknose curled up ontop of the Look-out Rock. Here she was able to sob to StarClan without any cat hearing.

"Why? Why does an elder get kits?" Pinknose yowled to the dusk sky. "Why can't I?"

The creamy warrior's body shuddered in depression. Her claws raked against the solid rock.

"StarClan!" She growled. "Answer me!"

Storm clouds grew as the moon rose. Dots of water sprinkled on the moorland until it turned into howling winds and heavy down-pour.

Wet and cold, Pinknose grimaced. She refused to leave her place. Not even StarClan or Thornslope could move here.

* * *

"Pinknose." A soft voice and paw prodded her.

The creamy warrior realized it was midnight and she had fallen asleep. The sky was black with rainclouds and the rain had let up. Pinknose felt sick. Her throat and mouth felt stuffed and her bones were chilled. Her light pelt was clinging to her body.

"Thornslope, go away." She hissed without turning her head or opening her sunken eyes.

"My name is Silverleaf." The voice told her.

"Silverleaf?" The name hardly lashed a tail for Pinknose.

She looked up and a starry queen stood on the rock with her. She was silvery dapple and her leaf-green eyes were glowing in the darkness.

"Oh!" Pinknose yelped. "You're a ThunderClan queen."

"Yes, I was." The she-cat nodded. "I have a message for you."

"What? I already know I can't have kits." Pinknose flattened her ears.

Another starry figure leaped from the sky. He was a frosty dark tabby. His fur was thick and long and he looked young. "Silverleaf, maybe I should say this message?"

The silver queen hissed. "She's MY kit."

"Barkstar!" Pinknose stared in disbelief. "I saw you just this last Gathering. You're dead?"

"Listen," Silverleaf interutpted and pushed Barkstar over. "There is one kit in ThunderClan taht is unwanted by all. You are destined to be a mother."

"Oh, Silverleaf. Is it yours?" Pinknose mewed.

"Yes." She dipped her head. "I... didn't... the kitting did not go well."

"And," Barkstar lifted his chin. "warn Sproutstar of my succesor. She needs to have a group of cats she can trust."

"Okay..." Pinknose mewed blankly. She was going to adopt a kit? She WAS destined to be a queen! She didn't really care about what Barkstar was saying.

Silverleaf gave Pinknose a quick lick and disappeared. One star in the cloudy, night sky began to shine brightly.

"I have a prophecy." Barkstar meowed quickly.

Pinknose listened carefully.

_"The trees of the forest will block out the sun and stars with shade and bramble."_ The dark tabby told her before disappearing back into the sky.

* * *

**Warriors (c) Erin Hunter**

**No, this prophecy has nothing to do with this story, but rather, a half-generation later.**


	2. Chapter 2

It was a fine morning in ThunderClan. The heat of the green-leaf sun had not risen, and the dawn air still rested on dew. The call of birds and rustle of leaves told the cats that it would be a swell day for hunting.

Fireface, a flame colored queen, returned to camp with a look of finality on her ginger face. She had sat vigil for the whole night for hear dear friend, Silverleaf. Silverleaf had died just two nights ago giving birth to her three kits. Only one survived. No other cat had sitten vigil for her. It was because her last days in ThunderClan were full of accusations. Her mate was secretly a RiverClan tom- his name unknown.

Fireface picked up a chaffinch and squirrel from the prey-pile to take to her denmates. The rest of the Clan was begining to wake up, but no cat even mentioned Silverleaf, much less the poor orphaned kit.

"I hope the poor kit's okay." She murmured to herself as she entered the bramble nursery.

Her jaw dropped and the prey landed on the earth with a thud.

"Wh-what?" The red queen gaped at the sight of the kits and queens.

"Well, what?" Tawnyclaw hissed impatiently.

The gray mottled queen was nursing her three kits who were three moons old and plump with milk. The other queen, a sandy tabby, was grooming her kits. Silverleaf's kit was on the chilled earth. It was close to death.

Hurriedly, Fireface snatched the kit up and licked it roughly. How could they leave it to die in front of their own paws?

Between licks, the queen glared at the others. "Why aren't you feeding it?"

"I don't want that fish-eating scrap drinking my kit's food." Narrowtail meowed harshly.

"You better." Fireface growled, startling the gray kit.

"It's gonna die anyway." Tawnyclaw rasped.

Fireface was puzzled. She looked down at the kit. It's left backleg was gone.

* * *

"That doesn't mean you can let it die." Fireface stammered.

Tawnyclaw drew back her lips in a snarl. "Did Sunstar order us to feed a traitor's kits? No."

"Oh, you..." The red queen growled. "StarClan doesn't speak to me, but I know they decide who is welcomed. This is a time to prove yourself."

"Look, I'm helping nurse Brokenleg's kits. We have our pawsfull." Narrowtail said calmly.

The black elder and her two scrawny kits were bundled up in the corner. Were they really feeding those kits?

* * *

In the medicine cat den, the light brown tabby she-cat was pushing juniper berries into a pile.

Fireface carried the kit through the fern and bramble. The overnight dew clung to her shoulders and the kit's frail body. It cried with the chilly water drops.

"Littlebranch?" The queen called through a mouthful of scruff.

The medicine cat looked up with her troubled amber eyes. "Yes, Fireface? Are the kits alright?"

"No." The red ginger replied grimly.

"Oh my! Is Brokenleg's kits sick?" She padded from the back of the den to the entrance where Fireface stood with a grim face.

"No." Fireface shook her head and wung the kit slightly. Then she remembered the elder's kits that were scrawny and ragged. "Yes, actually. And Silverleaf's kit needs a look at... The others had also let her sleep alone and cold last night."

"Okay." Littlebranch nodded solemnly and took the gray kit and settled it in her nest of moss and chaffinch feathers. "Anything other?"

"Narrowtail and Tawnyclaw won't feed Silverleaf's kit. And Brokenleg's litter is weak." Fireface explained in a frustraited tone. Queens were supposed to care for all kits. Half-Clans, kittypet, Clan born, full Clan, or rogue. "I suspect those two won't feed her scraps either."

Littlebranch shook her head with remorse. "Are you the only queen I can trust?"

Fireface looked away from the somber amber eyes.

After an awkward silence, Littlebranch began to make a concoction of herbs and berries. Fireface assumed it was for the orphaned kit.

Littlebranch made a sappy pulp of juniper juice, honey, and bits of herbs Fireface couldn't distinguish. The tabby made the chunky liquid slide onto a beech leaf.

"Feed this to the kit." She instructed.

Fireface quickly dragged the leaf and dipped her tail in it. She opened up the kit's jaw. It nibbled on her tail as if it would never be satisified. She climbed in Littlebranch's nest and curled up with the kit while she continued to dip her tail in the fake milk and let it lick.

Littlebranch examined the kit after it had fell asleep with a full stomach. Littlebranch gave Fireface a reassuring nod. "I was worried when she was born missing a leg even though StarClan... but she has skin and fur grown over it as if a leg should never have been there."

Fireface nodded as the talkative cat rambled on.

"She is very weak. She is too young to go without milk for long and she is extremely lucky to have survived the night when the other queens let her lay cold." Littlebranch said the obvious. "Stay here for now. I'll go check on Brokenleg's leader and speak with Sunstar."

Fireface nodded gratefully and curled up with the gray _she_-kit.

"What will you name her?" Littlebranch asked before leaving the den.

Fireface wanted to name her but, "This is not my kit to name."

The tabby nodded and left.

"Although Silverkit or Leafkit would be nice."


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm going to talk to Sunstar about this." Littlebranch mewed frustatedly. "Narrowtail and Tawnyclaw are obviously NOT feeding Brokenleg's kits. They're scrawnier than a rabbit runt in leaf-bare!"

Fireface nodded. She was right; those two selfish queens only cared for themselves and their own kits.

"Well, I'll just make an extra batch of that honeymilk for that litter." The tabby rambled on. "Is your kit done eating?"

The medicine cat kept referring to the orphaned gray kit as Fireface's own. As much as she wished, the three-legged kit was not hers. But it was futile to explain this to the brown tabby again.

"Yes, thank you." Fireface licked the kit warm.

"Well I'm off then!" She meowed, carrying a clump of moss dripping with honeymilk and juices. "I'll make sure Sunstar brings this up to the Clan."

As the cat pushed through the ferns to leave the medicine den, the red queen stared at the kit in her paws. She was a tiny little gray scrap. Her fur was thick, unlike Silverleaf who had a slick pelt. The pelt color was too dark to match her mother's. Fireface hoped that she would have pretty green eyes like Silverleaf, though. It was ashame that Silverleaf had to die in the kitting.

"Too bad your father isn't here." Fireface meowed sadly at the thought of how her friend's loyalty was shadowed by her love for a tom in a different ClanFireface didn't know who the tom was, but she was sure it was RiverClan. Silverleaf had never been wary of water. She always came back with a shiny scale on her lip. She would cover the scent of an enemy Clan, but Fireface knew. But Silverleaf was her best friend, so she would never have revealed the affair. The secret leaked out on its own.

* * *

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the High Rocks for a Clan meeting!" The yellow ginger tom yowled.

Fireface and Littlebranch waited in the front anxiously with the kit being held in the tabby's jaw. Hopefully, this would get the kit recognized and accepted into the Clan and that the nursing queens would have to take care of all kits who need milk.

"What is it Sunstar?" A dilute calico named Pinefur walked over to them with a light ginger, Dustrose, following.

Soon, the sleepy cats of ThunderClan padded over to the High Rocks. Tawnyclaw and Narrowtail watched from the nursery. Fireface watched Treeshade, the deputy, sit with a scowl on her face with her son, Bramblepaw.

"As we all know, our disloyal queen, Silverleaf has passed on." The tom's voice rang across the clearing.

A few cats hissed, but quickly hushed themselves. ThunderClan these days loved to gossip. The silver queen was always talked about in low voices. They showed no respect for her. Some didn't even know that any of her kits survived. Fireface wondered if Sunstar had even sent her to StarClan with his own vigil.

"She has left us with one kit." He said as if he were announcing it at a Gathering.

He lunged at Littlebranch and snatched the kit from her. Fireface tried to swipe her back.

"From now on, this kit will be named Threekit." Sunstar said with the kit mewling in his jaws. He bgan to chant: "Threekit! Threekit!"

"Threekit...Threekit..." The Clan mewed timidly.

Fireface and Littlebranch looked up at the tom with faces agape. What a horrible name!

"Also," Sunstar continued, dropping the kit on his paws. "I am condemning Narrowtail and Tawnyclaw to feed Threekit as well as Brokenleg's litter."

The two queens who were watching from the bramble nursery hissed with hatred.

"What?!" The mottled she-cat howled. "Feeding THESE kits are enough, Sunstar!"

"Shut up!" The ginger tom yowled, jumping down to the ground.

The Clan cats flinched. Littlebranch leaped up and took the kit when his back was turned. Sunstar walked over to Tawnyclaw and towered over her.

"I should punish you." He growled.

"Sunstar," Treeshade took a step towards them.

Sunstar backed up and turned around to face the Clan. "It doesn't matter. We will be giving up Threekit at the next gathering."

"No!" Littlebranch shreiked. "That's not what I told you."

"I don't want this kit, no warrior wants to mentor it, no queen wants to feed it... If the other Clan do not want it, I will leave it for a rogue or twoleg perhaps." Sunstar wrapped his ginger tail around his paws and kept his blue gaze fixed on the light brown tabby.

"There is no-" Sunstar lunged at Littlebranch and slashed her ear with a growl.

"My word is law!" He roared.

"Silencing your medicine cat is a bad omen!" Littlebranch cried. Her eyes were moist amd her paws were trembling.

"Dismissed." He sneered.

The ThunderClan cats quickly left for hunting and training. Fireface watched as Pinefur and Dustrose led Flowerpaw out of camp. Tawnyclaw was staring at the leader with eyes yellow with hatred. Littlebranch ran out of the camp with her tail tucked.

Sunstar sweeped his tail and glowered at Fireface. The queen quickly picked up Threekit and sprinted for the nursery.


	4. Chapter 4

Perspective Switch! Bramblepaw in ThunderClan

* * *

The Clan was wary as they padded through the forest. The leaves were silver with the full moon shining in the starry sky. The call of mice in the undergrowth were tempting, but they could not be late to the Gathering.

"Bramblepaw." The deputy called softly for her apprentice.

The tabby tom slowed down his gate to walk in sinc with the gray she-cat.

"I have something important to tell you." Treeshade mewed.

He nodded. "Okay."

The waited for the Clan to continue walking ahead. They ducked under a yew bush.

"Bramblepaw, Sunstar is going to die soon." She mewed.

Bramblepaw blinked in confusion. His father was going to die? "Is he on his last lives?"

"No." His mother shook her head. "He has seven left. Anyway, we both know that you'll be a warrior soon."

"Yes, and we agreed that Sunnykit will be my apprentice." Bramblepaw nodded.

"When you finish Sunnykit's training, I'll make sure you will be the deputy because I am going to murder Sunstar."

"What?" The apprentice curled his lip. "Why?"

"Dustrose and Pinefur are expecting kits." Treeshade told him. "Sunstar forced them to take him as their 'mate'."

"That's horrible!" The tabby tom growled. His father was disloyal to his deputy, Clan, and true mate! If it weren't for Sunstar's lust for power, Treeshade wouldn't be deputy because she had been a queen at her appointment. The Clan thought that that was weird, but no cat argued... How could Sunstar do that? "I'll help take away his lives." Bramblepaw murmured.

"Thank you." Treeshade purred. "But I learned that Narrowtail and Tawnyclaw's are also his..."

Bramblepaw growled in anger.

"And who else would mate with an elder?"

"Sunstar."

"Right," The deputy hissed. "Who knows how many other she-cats are going become a queen?"

"I hope there are no others." The brown tabby hissed.

"Oh that's right..." Treeshade looked down at her gray flecked paws.

"Who?" Her son demanded.

She looked up at the sky through the branches. "Flowerpaw..."

The deputy padded ahead to catch up with the Clan. Bramblepaw scraped the forest floor with his claws. "Sunstar..."


	5. Chapter 5

"Where is Sunstar?" The old RiverClan yom growled. His patience was wearing thin.

"I don't know." The ginger ShadowClan leader hissed. "But Barkstar never kept us waiting."

The gray tortieshell she-cat kept calm. "Look, there he is."

The group of ThunderClan warriors pounded down to Fourtrees.

"About time." The ginger muttered.

The full moon was bright overhead and the stars were alive. A small wisp followed the ThunderClan cats as they raced to the oaks.

"Let the Gathering commence!" Sunstar yowled as he took a running leap at the Great Rock.

Fireface panted as she padded last to the Fourtrees. Threekit mewed in her sleep as Fireface had to jostle her to swerve through the Clan cats.

"Excuse me." She whispered before bumping into a RiverClan apprentice.

The red queen slinked over to the Great Rock to sit with the deputies, just as Sunstar had instructed her to do.

"Hello." The WindClan deputy, Silvertooth, nodded his head to her.

She kneaded the grass nervously and set Threekit between her paws. "Hello. I'm Fireface."

"The name suits you." He whispered and turned away.

"What's a kit doing ere?" The gray tabby tom questioned the queen suspiciously. "It looks like it can't even talk yet."

"Well, uh," She crouched over to protect the little cat.

"Leave her alone." The ShadowClan deputy told the RiverClan deputy.

She glanced at the ShadowClan tom. "Thanks..."

"I said 'LET THE GATHERING COMMENCE!'" Sunstar howled so loud that he silenced the stars. The sky seemed to darken even though nothing blocked the moon. "Scarletstar?"

The russett she-cat's eyes flashed with uncertainty. "ShadowClan is well. Leaf-fall is coming, and the leaves have started to change, but prey is as well as ever. A-"

"Is that all?" The ThunderClan tom sighed impatiently, as if he's been waiting the whole night for his turn.

"Yes." Scarletstar growled.

Fireface looked up at Sunstar. Why was he so rude to them? He arrives with his Clan late and begins the Gathering and then interrupts the ShadowClan report.

"ThunderClan is doomed..." Fireface heard one of the medicine cats mew from the other side of the Great Rock.

"Foamstar?" The yellow tom looked to the huge, scruffy tom.

Foamstar grunted. "RiverClan is well. The heat of leaf-green has run the river low, but at as leaf-fall approaches, it stills flows. We have a new warrior. Ashpaw has become Ashwhisker."

Fireface raised her head to see a fuzzy gray tom with his head held high. "Congrats..." She murmured so low that even Silvertooth who sat next to her couldn't hear.

Sunstar snorted. Foamstar glared. "That is all."

"I suppose that Sunstar doesn't want to go last?" Sproutstar meowed sarcastically. "WindClan has been wilted with the intense heat of green-leaf, but the upperland breeze cools us off." Fireface stifled laughter as she realized that the WindClan she-cat was going to drag on her report as long as possible. "We have found our lost apprentice: Zebrapaw and Burrpaw."

The queen saw a white tabby and ginger lower themselves to the ground. They looked pretty ragged.

"We have two new kits." She continued. "Yes, very beautiful kits. Thank you, Figflight."

A gray tom nodded his head proudly.

Sunstar huffed. "Is that-"

Sproutstar nearly slapped him with her tail. "Prey is running well." She dipped her head as she chuckled and ended her report swiftly.

Fireface and Silvertooth burst into laughter. One pounce-time later and the whole of the Gathering was laughing.

"This is what a Gathering is supposed to be like!" An elder meowed through chortles.

Sunstar was seething. His long, hooked claws were scraping stone and his blue eyes blazing with fury.

"Come on, Sunstar." Sproutstar bumped him with her flank. "Lighten up."


	6. Chapter 6

Sunstar's silohuette burned like fire under the moon. His fur bristled until it couldn't bristle anymore. One sweep of his angry blazing eyes silenced the howling forest cats.

"Well," He stepped forward on the Great Rock. "ThunderClan has been amazing. The prey is so rich that StarClan must have blessed us this year."

Scarletstar grunted at his boasting.

"Kits are being born at an amazing pace."

Fireface heard Treeshade hiss.

Sunstar continued. "Speaking of kits, our _dis_loyal queen, Silverleaf has died. Her kitting did not go well."

A few cats murmured in grief and confusion.

"You see, she kept coming back to camp with a fishy RiverClan scent." Sunstar growled. "She gave the Clan one kit. It is only half-ThunderClan."

Fireface ducked her head to cover Threekit as furious RiverClan warriors yowled at his discovery. Only Ashwhisker, the new warrior, stared at the stars with emotionless eyes.

"And we are giving up the kit tonight." The ginger tom nodded at last as the RiverClan cats calmed down. "Her name is Threekit."

Sunstar leapt down and snatched the gray kit from the red queen. Fireface shied away and watched the poor kit dragged helplessly onto the Great Rock. The yellow tom dropped Threekit and the stone. Scarletstar and Sproutstar wrinkled their noses.

"Does RiverClan want this kit?" The ThunderClan leader showcased the she-kit. All of the gathered cats gasped as her missing leg was revealed.

Foamstar glanced at his warriors warily. After what seemed like a hundred seasons, he finally spoke with his head turned the other way. "No."

"ShadowClan?" Sunstar gave a sly smile to Scarletstar.

"No." She narrowed her eyes at the two toms.

"That leaves her fate in WindClan perhaps?" Sunstar snickered. "If Sproutstar doesn't take it, we'll leave it for a rogue or loner."

"No!" Fireface hissed. They all knew that rogues and loners don't take in kits. She'd die before a castaway cat took her in. "You-"

Silvertooth gave her a mouth-full of tail. He shook his head gently. If she spoke against her leader she would be in more trouble than the kit.

"WindClan cannot take in th-"

"Spoutstar!" A WindClan she-cat weaved her way to the Great Rock. "I want this kit!"

"Pinknose, are you sure?" The gray tortieshell leader questioned the warrior.

The creamy warrior stood on her hind legs and Sproutstar leaned down. Pinknose whispered into the leader's ears. Fireface strained to catch the words. "StarClan told me to take in a kit given up at a Gathering."

"I can't argue against StarClan." Sproutstar whispered back.

The leader stood up and straight and looked Sunstar in the eye. "WindClan welcomes Threekit."


	7. Chapter 7

Pinknose turned her head and saw all of the Clan cats staring at her. Her pelt burned as Sproutstar passed the gray kitten to her.

"Thank you." She murmured as she gratefully accepted the kit.

The warrior, or queen, or whatever she was now, sat with Threekit by the RiverClan queens. At least they weren't giving her odd looks.

"I suppose that means this Gathering is over?" Scarletstar muttered with flattened ears.

"Dismissed!" Sunstar yowled with a sweep of his tail.

Pinknose was shouldered by the cats as they all began to return to their territories. She licked the kit and padded in the back of the WindClan group. Pinknose felt empty still, like the kit wasn't really hers, but was. She worried about what the other warriors thought. She worried that Thornslope wouldn't accept this three-legged kit. Glancing from side to side, Pinknose only caught a few puzzled eyes.

They continued their way home with the sky bright with stars. One of them was shining big and bright. _That's Silverleaf looking over her kit. _Pinknose thought with mixed feelings.

Threekit was limp by the scruff as she slept. Pinknose let her paws keep walking as she thought about everything.

Thornslope, who was guarding the camp, greeted them. His eyes shined as he found his mate in the midst of the warriors. Then his gaze fell down to the three-legged kit.

Pinknose's heart stopped. His face was blank. Her mind went blank. Like a crack of lightning, his face lit up with realization.

"My kit!" He yowled with happiness and purrs. "My beautiful kit!"

"Huh?" The creamy warrior was surprised by his reaction. "But she..."

"I don't care." He said sternly. "This is our kit. What's her name?"

"Threekit." Pinknose purred with a distorted sound. The name was not a good one.

Thornslope was overzealous to everycat's surpise. He swept his gaze over each WindClan cat. Then he began to chant. "Threekit! Threekit!"

They all looked at each other and chanted the kit's name. Finally, the tabby tom let them into camp.


	8. Chapter 8

Threekit watched the Clan live their daily lives from the back of the camp behind gorse. The apprentices boasted about their training, the warriors came in and out of the camp for patrols, and the elders layed out in the sunlight all day.

She could hear the razor wind from above. The walls of the sandy camp buffetted the breeze that blew harshly over the moors.

The small kit wondered what it would be like to climb out and feel the wind in her paws. Threekit finally mustered up the courage. She scrambled up the rocky wall. Her delicate claws scraped and scratched as she hoisted herself up.

"Wow!" The she-kit gasped. "Would ya look at that."

Forever, or more like four moons, she had sat at the back of the camp pacing around in her gorse enclosement. But now, an expanse of endless grass layed out in front of her.

She felt a tug at her paws. Suddenly, she was flying through the air!

"Threekit!" The creamy brown growled softly as she picked up the kit and leapt back down into camp.

"Pinknose," Threekit groaned. "I am sooo bored!"

"Every kit gets bored." Pinknose reassured her.

But Threekit didn't think so. She hardly knew any of her Clanmates personally. She saw them from afar. There was Sproutstar, the gray tortie she-cat who bossed everyone around, and Silvertooth, the silver tom that helped Sproutstar boss the Clan around. There was also Meadowbreeze, a pretty-looking she-cat, and Bubblebounce, a plump blue tom. When Threekit sniffed the air, Bubblebounce smelled different than the other cats. She knew she was being kept away from the other cats.

"I want to meet the other cats." Threekit huffed as her mother put her in her feathery nest.

"There aren't other kits." Pinknose told her.

"Yeah, right." She muttered.

Pinknose sighed. Her kit was growing up. "I am being honest, Threekit. We haven't had kits in a couple seasons..."

"Then be honest about this," Threekit growled. "Why am I trapped here?"

Pinknose turned away and slipped through the spiny gorse.

"I hate you, Pinknose!" The she-kit yowled. "I hate you!"


	9. Chapter 9

Three kit hissed at the ground and ripped at the gorse flowers furiously. She vented her anger into every swipe. Suddenly, she heard a few voices outside of her tight gorse enclosement. She scrambled backwards, trying to see over the gorse.

"She said she hates me." The creamy colored warrior-queen muttered.

"I would too if I was kept all alone for moons." The brown tabby countered.

The she-cat cringed and looked down at her paws.

"Pinknose, I don't mean it like that..." Thornslope slumped his broad shoulders. "Threekit and I still love you. She just needs to explore her home. You can't be this overprotective and not expect her to get mad."

Threekit growled as her warrior-queen mother pushed through the narrow entrance. Thornslope squeezed through the boughs.

"Threekit, let's go meet the Clan." Pinknose gave her a weak smile.

The gray kit looked up at her father. "Cool, but why haven't I before?"

The tabby sighed heavily. "It's because of your leg."

Threekit looked down at the spot where a limb was missing. "Thanks. For being honest. But why?"

The tabby licked his daughter. "WindClan is the fastest Clan of them all. They are proud and rely on their quickness for everything."

"And if they don't have all four paws... They can't be very quick..." Threekit understood. "But, I can be a medicine cat, right?"

Pinknose let out a small cry and left her mate and kit.

The tabby had a painful look in his eyes. "No, Threekit. There is already a medicine cat apprentice."

"Oh, so I will have to be an elder my whole life? I'll just rot away in this camp forever?" The she-kit squeaked.

Thornslope stood up suddenly and growled happily. "No! My daughter will be a warrior!"

"Huh?" The gray kit looked up.

"Go meet the Clan, now." Her father said.

"Oh-kay!" She squealed happily.

Threekit wiggled through the gorse. She ran up to the cat she knew as Silvertooth. She trotted towards him. Left paw then right paw, then back-left paw and then pause... And then left paw... and then et cetera.

"Hi, Silvertooth!" Threekit purred as she rubbed up against his leg.

"Oh, hello." He greeted her confusedly.

"Bye, Silvertooth!" She waved her tail at him as she trotted to the next nearby cat.

"Are you Meadowbreeze?" Threekit asked, sitting in front of the pretty warrior.

The white and gray she-cat nodded. "You must be Threekit. You sure have been cooped up for awhile."

"Yes." Threekit agreed. "Oh, is Sandpaw your mate? Do you love Sandpaw?"

Meadowbreeze's eyes widened as the kit asked questions about her apprentice. She put her tail in Threekit's mouth.

"Hey, there is Goldenfang over there." The warrior nodded at an amber ginger sitting with Silvertooth.

Threekit spit out her tail and turned around. She ran back over and lunged at Silvertooth.

"Hi, Silvertooth, again!" She cutely squealed.

Thornslope bit his lip as he watched his kit from the prey pile. He hoped that she didn't have purr-growl disease. It was a disease that affected a cat's head. They would be spitting mad one moment and be the most happiest scrap in the forest. He heard that only one other cat around the Clans who had purr-growl disease was Ashwhisker from RiverClan. But many cats might have purr-growl disease. They just don't know it or won't admit it.

Threekit wrapped her paws around the deputy's legs. "What are you two talking about?"

Goldenfang looked down at the kit with her icy blue eyes. "My apprentice, Zebrapaw."

Silvertooth shook the kit off. "Zebrapaw has been missing for a few moons..."

"Huh." Threekit looked up at them. "I had a dream once, about a white tabby she-cat. She was small and had pretty blue eyes..."

Goldenfang cringed. How'd the kit know about Zebrapaw's looks from a dream? Was StarClan speaking to her? "Yeah, that's Zebrapaw all right. Is she dead?"

"How would I know?" The kit said. "I just saw her in a dream with a bunch of scraggly cats dragging her around."

"Rogues..." The amber warrior murmured. She padded off to the Tallrock.

Threekit purred as she rolled around Silvertooth, happy that Goldenfang was gone. She didn't know that she was the deputy's sister.

Thornslope picked her up by the scruff suddenly. "You can sleep with me tonight, Threekit." He meowed to his daughter, dragging her away from the silver deputy.

"Thank you." Silvertooth said with his eyes.

Threekit purred after taking one more peak at Silvertooth.


End file.
